Snap counts and notes for Falcons-Vikings

Offense

Matt Ryan: 64 (100%)
Andy Levitre: 64
Jake Matthews: 64
Mike Person: 64
Chris Chester: 64
Ryan Schraeder: 64
Julio Jones: 58
Jacob Tamme: 53
Roddy White: 50
Tevin Coleman: 43
Nick Williams: 32
Levine Toilolo: 27
Patrick Dimarco: 19
Justin Hardy: 16
Terron Ward: 15
Tony Moeaki: 6
Eric Weems: 1

This is the level of involvement you'd like to see from Roddy White on 50 snaps, with six catches for 60 yards and a handful of quality blocks along the way. He's largely a possession receiver at this stage of his career, of course, but the Falcons desperately need someone who can come down with the football and get them 10 yards, so that's perfectly acceptable. The Falcons are delivering on their promise to get him more involved after the bye, and it's not Roddy's fault that he shouldn't be the second option in this passing game.

Tevin Coleman had a nice day on the ground overall, but once Devonta Freeman gets back, he's going to be relegated to a change-of-pace role for a ocuple of reasons that have nothing to do with his legs. He isn't a great blocker at this stage of his career, unfortunately, and he's been a non-factor in the passing game, with a painful drop on Sunday to make that even clearer. Freeman's well-rounded nature will keep him on the field over Coleman until the latter fixes those issues, which means it's probably not happening until 2016 or 2017, if at all.

The Falcons elected to involve Nick Williams in the offense more than Justin Hardy, and Hardy ended up with more yards but fewer targets and no touchdown. The Falcons' reliance on Nick Williams as their third option tells you a lot about the woeful state of Matt Ryan's weapons at the moment, as even though he's turned in a fine season, he's very clearly at best the fifth option in a quality passing game.

There was some hope that Tony Moeaki would be a pass-catching option at tight end, but now I'm not sure he should even be in the game. On just six snaps, he managed no positive contributions and a hugely costly clipping call on a would-be Tevin Coleman touchdown. The Falcons are weak, weak, weak at tight end, especially after Jacob Tamme, and it's obvious that a pass catching tight end and another receiver are imperative additions this offseason.

Defense

Desmond Trufant: 70 (100%)
Robert Alford: 70
Ricardo Allen: 68
Paul Worrilow: 67
Philip Wheeler: 43
William Moore: 43
Kroy Biermann: 42
Tyson Jackson: 42
O'Brien Schofield: 40
Paul Soliai: 38
Adrian Clayborn: 28
Ra'Shede Hageman: 28
Vic Beasley: 28
Jonathan Babineaux: 28
Jalen Collins: 27
Brooks Reed: 27
Robenson Therezie: 22
Grady Jarrett: 19
Justin Durant: 18
Nate Stupar: 12
Charles Godfrey: 7
Akeem King: 3

The Falcons rolled out their heavier front over half the time on Sunday, and they did a nice job of bottling up Adrian Peterson early. He broke an 11 yard run and two 10 yarders, but the explosion came in the second half, when started galloping for huge gains that gave the anemic Minnesota offense a lift. Some of that can be blamed on the Falcons' linebackers (who got trucked) and the lighter front, but the truth is the defense just looked gassed by the end. Peterson's a tough assignment in any week, but I think it's still fair to be disappointed with his final line.

I thought Vic Beasley had one of his better day getting after the passer, though he ultimately had no sacks to show for it. He's still coming in to the backfield a little too hot, and Teddy Bridgewater stiff-armed him right out of a play in one of the more cringe-inducing moments of Beasley's disappointing rookie year, but he's in the vicinity more often the last couple of weeks, and that should translate to sacks sooner than later. The team will be counting on him to show a lot more in 2016, but progress is progress.

The Falcons are a mess at linebacker, where Justin Durant and Nate Stupar are now hurt, Philip Wheeler might be the team's best option as a street free agent, Brooks Reed is still only playing about a third of the snaps, and Paul Worrilow mixes some nice plays with a few snaps where he's just destroyed by the running back. I have to think Dan Quinn and company are going to invest a first or second round pick at linebacker, given the injuries and limitations they're currently working with there.

The Falcons continue to try to keep Jalen Collins involved, and while the experience is going to help him considerably in the long run, he's just not a consistent asset right now. Robenson Therezie is showing well in his snaps, however, and the team really needs to take a longer look at him, assuming they don't have a ton of faith in Kemal Ishmael and human roster yo-yo Charles Godfrey isn't returning in 2016.

Special Teams

Kroy Biermann: 17
Kemal Ishmael: 17
Nate Stupar: 15
Eric Weems: 12
Patrick DiMarco: 10
Robenson Therezie: 9
Charles Godfrey: 9
Ricardo Allen: 8
Jalen Collins: 8
Desmond Trufant: 7
Tyson Jackson: 7
Philip Wheeler: 7
Matt Bosher: 7
Robert Alford: 7
Levine Toilolo: 6
Paul Worrilow: 6
Justin Hardy: 6
Nick Williams: 5
Terron Ward: 5
Grady Jarrett: 5
Adrian Clayborn: 5
Ra'Shede Hageman: 5
Tony Moeaki: 5
Josh Harris: 4
O'Brien Schofield: 3
Andy Levitre: 2
Ryan Schraeder: 2
Jake Matthews: 2
Akeem King: 2
Paul Soliai: 2
Shayne Graham: 2
Chris Chester: 1
Gino Gradkowski: 1

The Falcons mixed-and-matched a lot this week, with only Ishmael, Biermann, Stupar, Weems, and DiMarco earning double digit snaps on special teams. Gino Gradkowski sighting, though!